Discovery BoxPsalms 21:9
Context21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace 1 when you appear; 2
the Lord angrily devours them; 3
the fire consumes them.
Psalms 29:7
Context29:7 The Lord’s shout strikes 4 with flaming fire. 5
Psalms 78:63
Context78:63 Fire consumed their 6 young men,
and their 7 virgins remained unmarried. 8
Psalms 97:3
Context97:3 Fire goes before him;
on every side 9 it burns up his enemies.
Psalms 104:4
Context104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant. 10
Psalms 105:32
Context105:32 He sent hail along with the rain; 11
there was lightning in their land. 12
Psalms 106:18
Context106:18 Fire burned their group;
the flames scorched the wicked. 13
Psalms 18:12
Context18:12 From the brightness in front of him came
hail and fiery coals. 14
Psalms 78:14
Context78:14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire all night long.
Psalms 148:8
Context148:8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds, 15
O stormy wind that carries out his orders, 16
Psalms 11:6
Context11:6 May the Lord rain down 17 burning coals 18 and brimstone 19 on the wicked!
A whirlwind is what they deserve! 20
Psalms 18:13
Context18:13 The Lord thundered 21 in 22 the sky;
the sovereign One 23 shouted. 24
Psalms 39:3
Context39:3 my anxiety intensified. 25
As I thought about it, I became impatient. 26
Finally I spoke these words: 27
Psalms 50:3
Context50:3 Our God approaches and is not silent; 28
consuming fire goes ahead of him
and all around him a storm rages. 29
Psalms 68:2
Context68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. 30
As wax melts before fire,
so the wicked are destroyed before God.
Psalms 79:5
Context79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 31
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 32 burn like fire?
Psalms 89:46
Context89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?
Will you remain hidden forever? 33
Will your anger continue to burn like fire?
[21:9] 1 tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).
[21:9] 2 tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.
[21:9] 3 tn Heb “the
[29:7] 4 tn The verb normally means “to hew [stone or wood],” or “to hew out.” In Hos 6:5 it seems to mean “cut in pieces,” “knock down,” or perhaps “hack” (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea [AB], 428). The Ugaritic cognate can mean “assault.” In v. 7 the verb seems to have a similar meaning, perhaps “attack, strike.” The phrase “flames of fire” is an adverbial accusative; the
[29:7] 5 sn The
[78:63] 7 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 8 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
[78:63] 9 tn Heb “were not praised,” that is, in wedding songs. The young men died in masses, leaving no husbands for the young women.
[97:3] 10 tn Heb “all around.”
[104:4] 13 tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).
[105:32] 16 tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”
[105:32] 17 tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”
[106:18] 19 sn Verses 16-18 describe the events of Num 16:1-40.
[18:12] 22 tc Heb “from the brightness in front of him his clouds came, hail and coals of fire.” 2 Sam 22:13 reads, “from the brightness in front of him burned coals of fire.” The Lucianic family of texts within the Greek tradition of 2 Sam 22:13 seems to assume the underlying Hebrew text: מנגה נגדו עברו ברד וגחלי אשׁ, “from the brightness in front of him came hail and coals of fire” (the basis for the present translation). The textual situation is perplexing and the identity of the original text uncertain. The verbs עָבָרוּ (’avaru; Ps 18:12) and בָּעֲרוּ (ba’aru; 2 Sam 22:13) appear to be variants involving a transposition of the first two letters. The noun עָבָיו (’avayv, “his clouds,” Ps 18:12) may be virtually dittographic (note the following עָבְרוּ, ’avru), or it could have accidentally dropped out from the text of 2 Sam 22:13 by virtual haplography (note the preceding בָּעֲרוּ, which might have originally read עָבְרוּ). The noun בָּרָד (barad, “hail,” Ps 18:12) may be virtually dittographic (note the preceding עָבְרוּ), or it could have dropped out from 2 Sam 22:13 by virtual haplography (note the preceding בָּעֲרוּ, which might have originally read עָבְרוּ). For a fuller discussion of the text and its problems, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 74-76.
[148:8] 25 tn In Ps 119:83 the noun refers to “smoke,” but here, where the elements of nature are addressed, the clouds, which resemble smoke, are probably in view.
[148:8] 26 tn Heb “[that] does his word.”
[11:6] 28 tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the
[11:6] 29 tc The MT reads “traps, fire, and brimstone,” but the image of God raining traps, or snares, down from the sky is bizarre and does not fit the fire and storm imagery of this verse. The noun פַּחִים (pakhim, “traps, snares”) should be emended to פַּחֲמֵי (pakhamey, “coals of [fire]”). The rare noun פֶּחָם (pekham, “coal”) occurs in Prov 26:21 and Isa 44:12; 54:16.
[11:6] 30 sn The image of God “raining down” brimstone on the objects of his judgment also appears in Gen 19:24 and Ezek 38:22.
[11:6] 31 tn Heb “[may] a wind of rage [be] the portion of their cup.” The precise meaning of the rare noun זִלְעָפוֹת (zil’afot) is uncertain. It may mean “raging heat” (BDB 273 s.v. זַלְעָפָה) or simply “rage” (HALOT 272 s.v. זַלְעָפָה). If one understands the former sense, then one might translate “hot wind” (cf. NEB, NRSV). The present translation assumes the latter nuance, “a wind of rage” (the genitive is attributive) referring to a “whirlwind” symbolic of destructive judgment. In this mixed metaphor, judgment is also compared to an allotted portion of a beverage poured into one’s drinking cup (see Hab 2:15-16).
[18:13] 31 sn Thunder is a common motif in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 179-83.
[18:13] 32 tn 2 Sam 22:14 has “from.”
[18:13] 33 tn Heb “the Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.
[18:13] 34 tc The text of Ps 18:13 adds at this point, “hail and coals of fire.” These words are probably accidentally added from v. 12b; they do not appear in 2 Sam 22:14.
[39:3] 34 tn Heb “my heart was hot within me.”
[39:3] 35 tn Heb “In my reflection fire burned.” The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite (past tense) or an imperfect being used in a past progressive or customary sense (“fire was burning”).
[39:3] 36 tn Heb “I spoke with my tongue.” The phrase “these words” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[50:3] 37 tn According to GKC 322 §109.e, the jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al) is used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.”
[50:3] 38 tn Heb “fire before him devours, and around him it is very stormy.”
[68:2] 40 tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”
[79:5] 43 tn Heb “How long, O
[79:5] 44 tn Or “jealous anger.”
[89:46] 46 tn Heb “How long, O
